Author Description

Two generations of writers whose first works appeared before 1914 and who came of age during the period from 1875-1913 are covered in this DLB volume. The time span reflects the era between the year of publication of Maria von Ebner-Eschenbachs first work and the last year before the outbreak of World War I. Several of these writers were born in parts of Austria that were annexed as a result of the Versailles Treaty, including Max Brod, Franz Kafka, Gustave Meyrink, Leo Perutz, Rainer Maria Rilke and Franz Werfel. All of them belonged to the strong German minority that lived in Prague at the time. But despite close ties to the Berlin expressionist movement all are part of the Austrian literary tradition thematically and stylistically. Included are writers of unquestioned literary significance, lesser-known talents who are especially representative of a given movement, and unjustly neglected writers who may have received little attention in English, or, in some cases, even German. 27 entries include: Peter Altenberg, Franz Theodor Csokor, Enrica von Handel-Mazzetti, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Franz KafkaMax Mell, Arthur Schnitzler, Franz Werfel, Stefan Zweig.